Banks Matters with David Coleman: Hurstville Oval work

The Federal Government committed more than $750,000 towards the project which will give a much-needed improvement to the player facilities at the ground.

The new pavilion will include accessible change rooms and medical facilities for players and officials, and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Hurstville Oval is an iconic sporting ground in our area with a proud history of hosting local and international sporting champions and matches.

The ground was officially opened in 1911 and has been the home ground of the highly successful St George Cricket Club since 1921.

Sir Donald Bradman famously played for the Club between 1926 and 1933, and reportedly attracted 10,000 spectators to the ground in 1931 to see him play.

The ground continues to be an important cricket ground today and has hosted a number of WBBL and international women's cricket matches, as well as interstate competitions.

The St George Cycling Club is one of the most successful clubs in Australia and has trained cyclists at Hurstville Oval since the Club formed in 1920.

The Club has had athletes go on to represent Australia at every Olympic and Commonwealth Games since 1956, with three athletes competing at the Tokyo Games this year.

Hurstville Oval was also the home ground of the St George Dragons during the 1920s and 40s, as well as the St George Rugby Union Club, which produced 18 Wallabies players.

A number of improvements have been made to Hurstville Oval over the years, including the opening of the Booth Saunders Pavilion in 1999, named after famous St George Cricket Club players and presidents, Brian Booth MBE and Warren Saunders OAM.

We have committed to building a new pavilion to provide players from local and international teams with state-of-the-art facilities right here in Hurstville.

It's great to see the project underway and I look forward to seeing the facilities opened for the benefit of all those involved in sport at Hurstville Oval.